Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 419)

This chapter covers the following:
• Working with Dual System Video and Audio (p. 419)
• Using Synchronization Points to Create Merged Clips (p. 420)
• Duration of Merged Clips (p. 422)
• Creating Merged Clips from the Timeline (p. 423)
• Changing the Sync of Merged Clips (p. 424)
In Final Cut Pro, you can create merged clips that refer to independent video and audio
media files simultaneously, making it easy to work with them together, in sync.
Working with Dual System Video and Audio
Many movies are made by recording picture and sound separately and then syncing them
together during post-production. While this adds a level of complexity to post-production
and editing, it also gives you more independent control of picture and sound throughout.
Cinematographers can focus on capturing the images, while the production sound
recordist and microphone operator can work independently to capture the best sound.
The visible and audible clicking of the slate, along with timecode and edge code numbers,
are used to sync picture and sound together in post-production.
Dual system recording is used in productions such as:
• Big-budget video productions that record audio separately from the video, typically
using a DAT recorder.
• Film shoots; since most film cameras record only picture, audio is always recorded
separately, typically using a DAT recorder, Nagra, or hard disk recorder.
In Final Cut Pro, you can create merged clips so you can work with video and audio from
a dual system production together, in sync. Most clips refer to a single media file on disk,
and each clip item refers to a track within that single media file. In a merged clip, each
clip item can refer to a different media file on disk. For example, a merged clip
simultaneously refers to a video track in a QuickTime media file and audio tracks in one
or more separate audio files. You can merge one video clip and up to 24 audio clip items.
419
Merging Clips from Dual System
Video and Audio 29